Naoki Urasawa

Naoki Urasawa is a Japanese manga artist and musician born on January 2, 1960. Widely recognized as a highly influential storyteller, he is noted for often managing the concurrent creation of two distinct manga titles throughout his career, frequently collaborating with co-writer and former editor Takashi Nagasaki. By late 2021, his total global book sales exceeded 140 million copies, establishing him among the comic industry's top-selling authors.

Urasawa began drawing as early as age four, drawing inspiration from Osamu Tezuka's creations, particularly the Phoenix series and specific storylines within Astro Boy. He completed his first full narrative at eight years old, though he initially avoided pursuing a professional art career due to concerns about commercialization. Consequently, he pursued academic studies and earned an economics degree from Meisei University.

His professional trajectory shifted after visiting the publishing house Shogakukan, where his submitted work Return secured the 1982 New Manga Artist Award. Following an assistant role under Toshio Nobe, Urasawa made his official debut in 1983 with the short piece Beta!. He soon illustrated the action series Pineapple Army alongside writer Kazuya Kudo from 1985 to 1988. Simultaneously, Urasawa created his first major solo hit, the judo sports series Yawara!, which ran from 1986 to 1993 and received both anime and live-action adaptations.

Over the next two decades, Urasawa co-created and illustrated Master Keaton alongside Hokusei Katsushika and Nagasaki, while also producing the sports manga Happy!. He achieved broad global recognition with his suspense thriller Monster, which ran from 1994 to 2001. He built upon this success with the science-fiction mystery 20th Century Boys and its follow-up 21st Century Boys, as well as Pluto, a darker reimagining of Tezuka's Astro Boy universe. Between 2008 and 2016, he serialized the mystery story Billy Bat with Nagasaki.

In addition to his foundational manga, Urasawa has engaged in diverse creative endeavors. He created a sequel to Master Keaton, published the Louvre-collaborative series Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams, and launched the ongoing title Asadora! in 2018. Beyond print publishing, he hosted the educational television documentary series Urasawa Naoki no Manben, co-hosted a long-running radio broadcast, taught manga courses at Nagoya Zokei University, and released various musical projects. His artwork has been displayed in major international exhibitions across Europe, Asia, and North America.

Urasawa's extensive career has earned him prominent accolades, including three Shogakukan Manga Awards, two Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes, a Kodansha Manga Award, and honors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France. In recent years, he has contributed official art for the 2020 Summer Olympics, drawn promotional materials and album covers, appeared as an actor in the 2022 feature film The Flower in the Sky, and served as a creative partner for an animated project with Cartier.